Sorry can't add anything really useful but as soon as I'm done with my hardscape I plan to make use of penstemons ..

Good Day ...

They all want more water than I expected. Not a lot, but some. The only truly xeric Penstemon in Nevada is Penstemon palmeri, which is definitely drought-proof and a bit water-INtolerant.

Plant the Penstemons in the same kind of water regimen you would give Lavenders in your climate, even a teeny bit drier, but not too much drier.

I'm growing up several Penstemon spp. from seed, although they aren't anywhere near ready to fight for life in my garden yet.

Lisa

Thanks Lisa. Isn't growing plants from seed interesting? Getting seedlings ready to fight for life is a funny but a very true saying. especially out here in this heat/cold/winds. I have drip system on everything here...and can raise or lower how much water each plant gets individually. Except for a few cactus, that is.

B.

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Penstemon Parryi in foreground

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Penstemon bacharifolius in forground

Hello Beca,

I have several penstemons and love buying plants from High Country. Here in Las Vegas I will say that I had no luck with "red rocks", although not dying It didn't bloom at all for me. I shovel pruned it. I also had "elfin Pink" at our previous house and it was OK but I didn't bother with it in the new yard. Pinifolius never did much for me either at our other house so it got dug up also. Now you are a little cooler so maybe you will have better success with these. Here in Vegas My favorites, and they do wonderfully are P. Parryi, P. bacharifolius, P. trifolius, P. fenderli, and P. superbus and I grow all these.

Like I say though, your experience may be a little different than mine.

Maria

WOW Maria!!!!!!!!!!

Your yard looks beautiful!!!!!! That is what I want my yards to look like. Thank you for the photos and info. Your daughter looks like she is hunting for Easter eggs?? I have planted a couple of my penstemons and need to plant the rest. I guess we'll have to wait and see how they do, huh?
BTW-my palm is coming back so I am very happy about that!!!

Thanks again-see you on the 31st.
beca

...ordered quite a few you did from high country gardens,
in fact i visited them in november 06.

i've had the mersea yellows and pineleafs for at least
12 months and no blooms yet. pentstemon cardinalis
is in full bloom with 5 stalks each after the 2d year.

the compact lavendula augustifolia "willow dale" does
excellent in henderson. it weathered that cold spell
and bounced right back.

the agastaches took a beating and lost many (ouch...
their the most $). i bought about 7 varieties...
desert x is sort of fragile when young, a simple
bump will break the fragrant stems...the black adder
is doing well, rupestris is a parent of the hybrid
desert x, so it's a bit fragile too, as is the salmon
and pink with bit the dust in january.

the freezing temps took the silenes also.

solidago "witchita" loves the heat.

salvia nemerosa "may night" is thicker this 2d year.
both zaucherneria are doing okay, bouncing back.

i'm currently experimenting with their
other hummingbird attractors...heuchera "firefly",
gaura lindheimeri "pink cloud", salvia jurisicii "blue".

between star and home depot are 4 different colors
of delospermas (ice plant)...looking for the starburst
in plant not seed.

heavily amended, though the xeric pens seem to do okay
with the stuff from vista.

Hello Duane(?),

Lucky you to be able to visit High Country Gardens. We've been buying their mail order plants for about fifteen years and love them even if we haven't had success with everything.

Over the years we've tried a lot of High Country's agastaches. Every time they come out with a new one, which is every year, we give it a shot. Mostly they have been dissapointing. Because they are at a higher elevation winter hardiness has never been a problem for us but the summers here are more brutal than in New Mexico and I've always found the agastaches to look more faded and wispy here than their pics and if not killing them it has kept a lot of them from performing well.

That said rupestrus does good here and Desert Sunrise has survived last summer and winter and is growing like crazy now. My new try for the year is Orange Flare since both it's parents do well here. We've never tried Black adder but it's good to know it does well, Maybe that will be something for next year.

Most of their agastaches are hybrids and have to be grown from cuttings but rupestrus is easily grown from seed which is how I got what I have now. At our old house I bought them from high country for I believe about eight dollars a plant although they've come down a little.

I tried Salvia May Night at our old house but it didn't seem to like the heat so I gave up on it. There are so many salvias that love it here why waste time on one that doesn't but maybe you are having more success. We are trying thier zauschneria etteri this year with Agastache cana "rosita" and a russian sage to try to duplicate a look they had. At our other house we had a A. cana that was ok so I'm hopeful.

It's always good to here what does good and not so good in someone elses yard to have some ideas about what might be good to try.

Maria

Aloha Maria,

Considering that you can spend $$ on a HCG agastache
seedling...i can identify with your remarks...my garage
wall is lined with white marker casualties of those that
didn't make it. i hope i'm getting better.

diascia integerrima "coral canyon" is said to work here.
they so closely resemble the nemesia s that star pushes.

a 3 year manzanita daisy(s) are in 90% bloom...a 3 foot
diameter pin cushion of yellow blossoms.

i like salvias also and am able to fight the little
black aphids that attack them, star has "lady in red"
prolific...but beyond purple, salmon, red...that's pretty
much it...sages are about the same.

hummers visit daily, no feeders...they seem to favor
lavendulas as much as those reds...seeing them makes
it worth it.

are you into hesperaloe? since you favor seed, you
can find the uncommon yellows near the entrance into
mccarran airport on that little triangle strip just
before entering airport property on russell road.
NO luck with seed on the smaller stuff.

i d like some advice on fruit trees...specifically
persimmons which star has...any happy endings?
have 20th century pears and another variety for the
x pollination, a couple freestone peaches and
a santa rosa plum, pineapple guavas, blood oranges
all in year 1.

now that it's warming up...i m moving the last tons
of rock, dirt with my 4 year old trusty wheelbarrow
...25+ tons easily...it's nearly done...booyah!

Mahalo,

I've had terrible luck with fruit trees. I know almonds and apricots and anna apples do well here but not so for me. I think a lot of them tolerate our climate but don't really like it. Probably if we had a lawn to create a microclimate for them they would do better.

What truly loves the desert though are pomegranites, pistachios, and jujubes. These are tough trees that love the heat, don't mind the cold and laugh at our alkaline soils and water. Still hope springs eternal and I planted another apricot this year, is that three in a row now? Also another fuji apple to replace one that died and am planning to replace the third fig that I've planted and cared for all summer only to have the winter freeze it. This year I winter protect while it is young.

The salvias I have and love are S. greggii, clevlandii, pachyphylla, dorrii, chamaedryoides, luecantha and penstemonoides. One that grows well but I don't really like is farinacea. And new for me this year is HCG's x scarlet spires. Oh, and these are all so different to me in leaf and flower color even flower form if you compare a clevlandii to a greggii, I do not fine them the same at all!

It sounds like you're doing a lot to your landscape, good luck with it and I too wish I had all that money back from plants purchased and planted that couldn't hack conditions here, I'd be able to go to Hawaii!

Maria

a good place to get penstemon in reno is to go to the Rancho San Rafael Arboretum's annual plant sale (early June i think) i got three plants from them last year and they have trippled in size and also are volunteering all over the flower bed!! I'll have some to share soon! I have one firecracker (red) and two purples that I forgot the name of, they like a bit more water, but are happy among the yarrow and sedum. And i don't know why i'm recommending the annual plant sale-- it is combat shopping as it is, but it is a great way to support the park and get nice plants that will grow in reno.

I have mystery volunteer penstemons this year: they have foliage similar to Penstemon palmeri, but they are only about 12-18" tall, with small lavender flowers that look sort of like P. strictus blooms. I suppose it could be a natural hybrid, considering I have a whole heap of Penstemons, or it could be from some ungerminated seed pots I threw all over the place and can't remember what I had in them.

I like the Arboretum Plant Sale. Get there early with your basket or cart, your cup of coffee, and something to sit on like a plastic cushion and wait for them to open if you want to get specific things. Otherwise get there by the time they open and just get what you can.

I live in Pahrump & we had very high winds & I had some new plants broken off at the base. Can anyone tell me if one can start new plants from a Agastache & if so what is the best way to do that...thanks

Hi there bluparrot! I also live in Pahrump. If you go to Southside nursery (south end of town across the street from Lakeside Terribles casino)...talk with Don (owner) about your problem. He would know. I am down at the south end of town too. I wasn't home for the big wind storm but heard about it. I only had a little bit of damage this time: some peaches were ripped from their trees. Lots of sand still sits around waiting to be vaccumed up. Of course now it is breezy again-maybe the winds will blow the sand away-LOL.

Beca

Thanks Beca ,he does seem to have alot of knowledge for the area I've got some cuttings in some soil so will see what happens....

maria,

i know i'm late adding to this post, but i love the pictures of your garden! what's that white plant in the foreground?

j.